Hardware Bible

It usually lines the bottom of a desktop system, covers one side of a tower or mini-tower system, or fills the center of a notebook machine like the meat of a sandwich or ham of a burger. It's the biggest circuit board inside the computer, likely the...

Nothing about computers requires a motherboard. You could build a computer without one—at least if you had sufficient knowledge of digital circuits and electronic fabrication, not to mention patience that would make Job seem a member of the televisio...

More confusing than board designs is the terminology used to describe the motherboard. The industry is rife with words that mean the same thing as "motherboard" or have subtle variations from that definition. Here are some of the most common: Sy...

You know an expansion board as soon as you see one. It has an edge connector that fits only one place: on the motherboard made to accommodate it. But the reality of the expansion board is confused by issues of nomenclature and standards. Nomenclatu...

The infrastructure that makes a city includes not only highways and mass transportation but also utilities, which supply businesses and homes with what they need in the modern world: water, sewers, gas, and electricity. Computers, too, need utility ...

The final aspect of your computer's infrastructure is what truly holds everything together—its case. Although it appears to be nothing more than a box, the simple case has several complex functions. It is both the foundation for your computer and a p...